So, if you haven't met me in person, there's something you should know- I'm really pale. Like, SUPER pale. I don't tan; I never have unless I get a sunburn and it peels and then it turns into a tan.
So, living in Arizona for eight years has done some damage, and I knew it, so I finally put on my big girl panties and went to the dermatologist. Better safe than sorry, better to catch something early, yadda yadda yadda....and wouldn't you know, there was a naughty little mole on the pinkie toe of my left foot. Seriously? My PINKIE TOE??
Long story short, the Dr. ended up lopping it off right then and there, followed by a "No physical activity or exercise for one week". My response? "Does that include running?" I mean...I WAS planning on running 16 miles on Saturday.....not anymore..... ::le sigh::
Seriously if I knew she was going to take it off immediately, I would have waited to go to the Dr. I thought they'd reschedule, but who knew that they could numb you up and slice off a dime-sized chunk of skin in under 5 minutes? Not me!
Anyway, I'm being a total drama queen. Everything's fine, I'm just a little sore (and grumpy since I can't run). I just feel like such a chump and that I'm letting my team and honored teammates down since I'm "Out of Order" right now.
I'm going to use this time to turn inward and really focus on myself and my mission (and the Team/LLS's mission). It's so easy to get caught up in the race aspect of it and lose sight of why we're all really doing this. Today is my friend Cathy's three-year anniversary of being in remission. She's a lymphoma survivor who ran PF Chang's with me in January (and who kicked my butt in every single practice- she's a power house!!). I'll be wearing her name on my jersey to celebrate her as well has honor those who we've lost, like Granddad and Uncle Ralph.
"And even the rain, when it falls, is coming home"
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
A month's worth of updates
Wow, a new entry! :)
Training has been going well!
Five weeks ago, I started an eight week program of track workouts with our local running shop, Fleet Feet which is designed to make your body more efficient when it comes to running....and ultimately make you faster (I won't lie, this is my main goal- to get faster [without injury]).
We meet at a track, do a 1 mile easy jog, half a mile of drills (jumps, bounding, butt kickers- literally), and another half mile of sprinting the straightaways and jogging the curves).....whew! And that's just the WARM UP! Then we get into our timed practices. 6-8 of 200 m runs, with a specific time goal (based off of our mile time trial the first week- I did it in 7:55! I didn't think I could run that fast). The objective of the timed goal is to get our bodies into this very specific "zone" of using the oxygen as efficiently as possible and pushing our limits so that we can gain endurance.
Well....a few weeks go by and while track practice was going great, my Saturday runs were.....well, they were sucking. I was fighting my pace and all over the place mentally. On a hill run I forgot to take nutrition for an hour and 45 mins....(normally I take it every 45 mins...) and didn't realize it until I felt so horrible and was basically delerious that Coach Rick found me and literally had to talk me in "See that tree? Once we get there we're going to run for a little bit, ok?". I was so grateful for him and his help, and he is such an awesome coach and selfless man......but I hope I never have to have him coach me like that again. Other runs were just slow and dumpy....I felt really out of my groove, and I became unsettled, impatient, discouraged, and sort of mad....
So two weeks ago I couldn't make it to track practice and felt super guilty and lame (the sessions are on Thursdays, by the way).....but come Saturday morning's run, I felt transformed. We did 14 miles and I felt like I was flying.....my last few miles were averaging 9:20-9:30 (I walk a minute in between miles, so my overall pace is a bit slower)....I couldn't believe it, I was simply floored. Holy crap. Track practice WORKS.
Yesterday's run, enter stage left, calf pain. What the heck? Where did THIS come from? It's not cramping, it just flat out hurts. So I'm working with a foam roller and a stick to work out some of this pain. It made for an uncomfortable 11.4 miles yesterday....well, the humidity didn't help either....I averaged 10:45/mile which includes my water bottle refill times, etc, so I'm pretty happy....
I bought some compression calf sleeves on Friday in hopes of decreasing my recovery time from the longer runs, and boy am I glad I did.....they really made a difference and I'm seriously considering running in them next weekend for our (dun dun dunnnnnnn) 16 miler.
I'm about $300 short on the fundraising front, and I'm really excited to be so close!!!
Let's hope I can chill out and just train injury free these next few weeks.
Training has been going well!
Five weeks ago, I started an eight week program of track workouts with our local running shop, Fleet Feet which is designed to make your body more efficient when it comes to running....and ultimately make you faster (I won't lie, this is my main goal- to get faster [without injury]).
We meet at a track, do a 1 mile easy jog, half a mile of drills (jumps, bounding, butt kickers- literally), and another half mile of sprinting the straightaways and jogging the curves).....whew! And that's just the WARM UP! Then we get into our timed practices. 6-8 of 200 m runs, with a specific time goal (based off of our mile time trial the first week- I did it in 7:55! I didn't think I could run that fast). The objective of the timed goal is to get our bodies into this very specific "zone" of using the oxygen as efficiently as possible and pushing our limits so that we can gain endurance.
Well....a few weeks go by and while track practice was going great, my Saturday runs were.....well, they were sucking. I was fighting my pace and all over the place mentally. On a hill run I forgot to take nutrition for an hour and 45 mins....(normally I take it every 45 mins...) and didn't realize it until I felt so horrible and was basically delerious that Coach Rick found me and literally had to talk me in "See that tree? Once we get there we're going to run for a little bit, ok?". I was so grateful for him and his help, and he is such an awesome coach and selfless man......but I hope I never have to have him coach me like that again. Other runs were just slow and dumpy....I felt really out of my groove, and I became unsettled, impatient, discouraged, and sort of mad....
So two weeks ago I couldn't make it to track practice and felt super guilty and lame (the sessions are on Thursdays, by the way).....but come Saturday morning's run, I felt transformed. We did 14 miles and I felt like I was flying.....my last few miles were averaging 9:20-9:30 (I walk a minute in between miles, so my overall pace is a bit slower)....I couldn't believe it, I was simply floored. Holy crap. Track practice WORKS.
Yesterday's run, enter stage left, calf pain. What the heck? Where did THIS come from? It's not cramping, it just flat out hurts. So I'm working with a foam roller and a stick to work out some of this pain. It made for an uncomfortable 11.4 miles yesterday....well, the humidity didn't help either....I averaged 10:45/mile which includes my water bottle refill times, etc, so I'm pretty happy....
I bought some compression calf sleeves on Friday in hopes of decreasing my recovery time from the longer runs, and boy am I glad I did.....they really made a difference and I'm seriously considering running in them next weekend for our (dun dun dunnnnnnn) 16 miler.
I'm about $300 short on the fundraising front, and I'm really excited to be so close!!!
Let's hope I can chill out and just train injury free these next few weeks.
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